There’s a lot going on when you think about it …

Within ten minutes or so of waking and coming to my computer today in order to tour the websites of those few UK newspaper websites still permitting free access to their pages, two things struck me.

Firstly, that in the 24 hours since I had last conducted said exercise there had been a considerable number of developments in what one might describe as UK news and current affairs.

And secondly, a strong impression that there so much happening in so many fields of human endeavour and activity for any single individual – whether Government minister, politician, health administrator, emergency services controller or even the average senior citizen like me – to keep up, especially when the latest stream of new events, developments and crises seem to require instant U-turns, revisions and/or changes in directions and advice to that which was issued only days previously.

A man like me sitting at the back of the top deck of the proverbial Clapham omnibus could easily get confused.

The conflict between the protection of public health and the need to get the economy moving again is, of course, at the heart of the matter.

Take the coffee shops, snack bars and fast-food outlets that used to serve our central city heartlands.

After belly-aching about not being allowed to reopen for ages, they finally get permission to do so, but then discover that only a fraction of the former footfall is now commuting to work in their previous work places either because they’ve been furloughed and/or learned that they can work just as efficiently at home without the expense and toils and troubles inherent in spending up to four hours per day commuting.

So the coffee house brigade are now up in arms again because the Government hasn’t returned “normal” to “normal as it was before the Covid-19 crisis hit us”.

But, of course, that’s the whole point – “normal as it was” may well not ever be “normal” again.

Ditto with the theatre industry, which Andrew Lloyd Webber was banging on about in the media yesterday – seemingly on the basis it was ridiculous that the Government hadn’t done more to support it generally or (also) “get it back to normal” (i.e. as it was before Covid-19).

But (as I understood it) the Government has done plenty – in terms of the numbers of pounds deployed – for the theatre industry.

Lloyd Webber may have a point that it still isn’t enough, but the idea the Government has completely neglected it – and thereby risked damaging it permanently – is surely incorrect, simply on the facts.

Everybody, and every industry they work in, is a “special case” it seems and being systematically denied by the Government enough assistance to get themselves back on their feet as they used to be.

To coin a phrase, “Don’t they know there’s a war on?”